One of the nice things about visiting John's parents in Utah is that there is always something interesting to do outside. It really doesn't matter the season, either. Although, when we were there recently, it was very hot and surprisingly humid for a desert. Regardless, that didn't stop us from exploring.
The green-eyed Susans in the photo above are from the Thanksgiving Point Gardens John's mom and I visited while we were there.
That's the view from the back of the visitor's center. You can't see this place (all 55 acres of it) from the highway at all. We nearly missed it.
The gardens are easily walkable, with brick paths leading to the various exhibit gardens. Along the way, there are water treatments, shady spots, and benches (although not too many of those). You do have the option of taking a Segway or a golf cart, if you cannot walk the 5 miles or so of gardens. We opted to walk since it was the morning and relatively cool when we started.
All around us were clever uses of gardening techniques, such as fun shapes, like these waves. The gardeners also planted several different species of plants together, with very similar colors to create a striking appearance.
I'm still trying to find out what these blue flowers below are. Anyone know?
Here's a close-up:
Because many of the beds were filled with annuals, it amazed me how much time (and money) it must have taken to achieve such a lush look.
Eventually, we walked to the rose garden, which (I hate to say) was underwhelming compared to the other displays.
Walking out of the rose garden, we came to a high stairway. We climbed the stairs, which led us to this view.
When you wind your way down from the top, here's the view back to the visitor's center.
The Italian garden isn't so much a garden as it is a giant water treatment.
It reminded me of a series of large bathtubs.
This may be a bit tough to see in the photo, but the image is a sculpture of a carousel, with the horses decorated with mosses and flowering plants. It's quite beautiful.
Here's another view.
After we finished up at the gardens, we ate lunch at a lovely restaurant on the site called The Harvest. In fact, all the meals we had while we were out there were very tasty.
If you haven't yet visited the Salt Lake City area (and this is about 30 minutes South of the city), when you do, put Thanksgiving Point Gardens on your list of things to do on a sunny, warm day.
